00 Civic Si - alternator not charging battery
 

my 2000 civic si has some electrical issues... the car has a stinger battery which has more power than a stock one but its tiny... only electrical wiring it has is a clifford which works... battery and alternator were tested and work... now the alternator is not charging my battery... my headlights and dash lights dim when i press the brakes while the car is moving... the radio also powers off and on when i press the brakes... i took it to some old man who specializes in this and told me the battery is too small for my car but its at 100% and the amps are more than the stock one... he told me to put a regular battery and then bring it back... i dont want to spend $100 on a battery if mine works but could this old man be right? i dont understand how a regular battery be better then this stinger battery which people usually upgrade to since it has more amps that factory... any help?

Re: electrical issues with my civic
 

try a regular civic battery then look for a homie with a integra or civic and ask them to pull it out and try it on u car, either that ur alternator is going out soon

Re: electrical issues with my civic
 

Quick question for you then. Did you have these problems before the Stinger?

Re: electrical issues with my civic
 

i never had a stinger but i think u should try a different battery, but i did had a bad alternator before, most the time when ur cluster lighting dims in ur cluster means its the alternator is going bad soon it might show signs of charging but in the near future its dying, most places check it and see it good but all of sudden it can fail anytime, i had kragen check my alternator they said it was good but it was killing my battery all the time, then they gave me a replacement now i had no more issues

Re: 00 Civic Si - alternator not charging battery
 

Also check whether 7.5A dash fuse 15 is blown.

Re: 00 Civic Si - alternator not charging battery
 

i checked the fuse 15 and 7.5a was good... ima try a a regular battery and new battery terminals...

Re: 00 Civic Si - alternator not charging battery
 

what else could it be? i bought the car about a month ago and its been having these issues ever since...

Re: 00 Civic Si - alternator not charging battery
 

Does the dash charge light stay on with the engine running?

With the engine off, what voltage do you measure across the battery posts?

With the engine idling with no load, what voltage do you measure across the battery posts?

With the engine idling with high load (high beams, rear window defogger, and max blower on), what voltage do you measure across the battery posts?

Re: 00 Civic Si - alternator not charging battery
 

ill check this in a few... can this cause my headlights flicker and radio powering off when i hit the brakes?

Re: 00 Civic Si - alternator not charging battery
 

What do you mean by this?

Re: 00 Civic Si - alternator not charging battery
 

the voltage of the things u told me to check with the multimeter...

Re: 00 Civic Si - alternator not charging battery
 

I would not suggest any tests that are irrelevant to your problem.

Re: 00 Civic Si - alternator not charging battery
 

i meant can this battery issue be the cause of the headlights/dashlights/radio flickering when i press the brakes?

Re: 00 Civic Si - alternator not charging battery
 

what should the voltage be for all 3 diagnostics be? so i can get a battery asap if all this fails...

Re: 00 Civic Si - alternator not charging battery
 

Post the voltages and we'll go from there.

Re: 00 Civic Si - alternator not charging battery
 

okay tomorrow morning i will get my hands on a multimeter so i will post them up..

Re: 00 Civic Si - alternator not charging battery
 

i wish u lived in miami....

Re: 00 Civic Si - alternator not charging battery
 

1) engine off is 12.67
2) engine idling is 12.68 after it warms up but starts at 13.50 and goes down..
3) engine on with everything on is 12.66

Re: 00 Civic Si - alternator not charging battery
 

Tested it again and idling started at 14.34

Re: 00 Civic Si - alternator not charging battery
 

With the engine on....the fluctuating voltage means the alternator is going bad. It should say consistent around 14.3 or so. The temperature of the car should have nothing to do with voltage.

Re: 00 Civic Si - alternator not charging battery
 

So alternator is def going bad then? It was tested and came out fine...

Re: 00 Civic Si - alternator not charging battery
 

Okay replaced battery to a autocraft gold and car idling stays at 14.34 consistently...

Re: 00 Civic Si - alternator not charging battery
 

Now engine on with everything on it's at 12.61

Re: 00 Civic Si - alternator not charging battery
 

But it's slowly going down... Now it's at like 12.40 after like 3 mins and it's still going down...

Re: 00 Civic Si - alternator not charging battery
 

Now with the car on, radio on and headlights on it went back to 14.23... Thats with no AC on... With the AC on it goes to 13.74... If I add the rear defroster then it goes to 12. 91